


rein and bridle

by AllegoriesInMediasRes



Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Brother-Brother Relationships, Brother-Sister Relationships, Canon Compliant, Father-Daughter Relationships, Father-Son Relationships - Freeform, Ficlet, Gen, Grief, Guilt, Oneshot, Parallels, Quadruple Drabble, Xenophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:21:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23253124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllegoriesInMediasRes/pseuds/AllegoriesInMediasRes
Summary: T’Challa is an only child for almost his whole childhood.T’Chaka is almost grateful for this.Quadruple drabble.
Relationships: N'Jobu & T'Chaka (Marvel), Shuri & T'Challa (Marvel), T'Chaka & T'Challa (Marvel)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	rein and bridle

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever Black Panther / Marvel / superhero-related fic in general!

T’Chaka does his best not to think of his brother or the boy.

He has never laid eyes on the boy, would not have even known of his existence had Zuri not told him, and he is able to think of him as simply  _ the boy _ and nothing more.

He will not think of him as his nephew, his brother’s only son, just a few years younger than T’Challa, a child of Wakanda lost in the world with no father or mother or tribe or home. Else he will forget the outsider’s blood running in his veins, forget the treachery he might have inherited from his father, and T’Chaka will do something mad. Such as returning to Oakland, tracking down the boy, and bringing him home. He cannot think so.

He is mostly successful at this.

But sometimes, when T’Challa snuggles up beside him, smiling and wide-eyed and mindlessly adoring, and T’Chaka draws him into his embrace, he will wonder, unbidden:  _ Did N’Jobu ever take N’Jadaka into his arms as easily as this? _

* * *

T’Challa is an only child for almost his whole childhood.

T’Chaka is almost grateful for this.

But Bast sends her blessings in due time, and Ramonda bears a squalling, screaming girl on an autumn day.

He is glad that T’Challa has a little sister, not a little brother. He hopes that the nearly twenty years between them will mean that they are never very close, and that if they do bond, T’Challa will be more father than brother to her. More prepared to rein her in, as T’Chaka could not bridle N’Jobu.

But Shuri rapidly proves herself a feisty match for T’Challa, and more often than not, it is she who gains the upper hand over him.

Fortunately, Shuri also proves herself to be Wakandan to her very core. She devotes herself to harnessing the possibilities of vibranium and bettering the city where she grew up, rather than chasing the miseries of people not their own. Ramonda complains when their daughter commandeers an entire royal laboratory for herself, but T’Chaka gladly indulges her. He would rather that she cocoon herself away in a lab, than go out into the world and lose herself there. 

Shuri’s eyes shine with brilliance and ambition, but no wanderlust, and T’Chaka is glad that his children are of such a similar bent, that the world will never drive a wedge between them. 


End file.
